Running Not-for-Profits Like For-Profits

Discussion Moderator:  Michael Serluco

Panelists:  Robert Barry | Michael Kawas | Cheryl Marks Young

Running a not-for-profit doesn’t mean operating the business like a charity-case.  The best CFOs at well-run not-for-profits recognize that in order to succeed on their organization’s behalf, they must think like their for-profit peers, and lead the finance and strategy of the organization in the same manner.  Matters that are just as important to not-for-profits include:

• Ability to remain a going concern – Current economic impact and regulatory environment impact
• Revenue streams – Diversification and general business cycle issues
• Expenses – Management in a time of severe cutbacks and downward trends in contributions and donations
• Employee compensation
• Talent brain drain
• Health Insurance impact of the ACA
• Ethics

Join Cheryl Marks-Young, CFO of Easter Seals New Jersey, Bob Barry, CFO of the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Michael Kawas, CFO of Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, and Eric Strauss, Partner at WithumSmith+Brown, as they share insights and experiences in building successful finance organizations and participating in leading their not-for-profit organizations with a for-profit mindset.

Michael Serluco
WithumSmith+Brown
CPA, Partner

Michael is a partner in WithumSmith+Brown’s Red Bank, NJ, office and has over 20 years of professional accounting and auditing experience. He is a certified public accountant in the states of New Jersey and New York and specializes in providing accounting, auditing, tax, financial and reimbursement consulting services to health care and not-for-profit organizations.

A graduate of the University of Maryland located in College Park, MD, Michael earned his BS degree in accounting.  He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJSCPA), the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and the Homecare Association of New Jersey.  He is a past chair of the NJSCPA Nonprofit Interest Group and is a frequent speaker on current healthcare audit, tax and reimbursement matters.

Michael is very active in his community, having served as the vice chairman of Bayshore Community Hospital and chairman of the Finance Committee for Bayshore Community Health Services, Inc. and Bayshore Health Care Management Corporation.  Michael currently serves on the Finance Committee of Meridian Health.  In addition, he is the former treasurer of the Holmdel Theatre Company.

Michael resides in Monmouth County, NJ.

About WithumSmith+Brown

WithumSmith+Brown (WS+B) brings clients the benefits of a larger organization without sacrificing the attention and personal service that one expects from a local business. WS+B’s regional offices ensure easy access to their dedicated, experienced team and the advice you need to achieve greater growth and financial success. Their clients represent a broad spectrum of industries and range in size from small, entrepreneurial startups to billion-dollar, publicly-held companies.

The Firm’s stability and overall growth encourages first-rate talent to join WS+B and grow with them. The Firm has approximately 500 professionals, with almost 250 CPAs. Their clients benefit from the expertise and continuity of their engagement team and the rapport which develops in time from this crucial business relationship. The engagement team provides timely service and accessibility—simply put, WS+B is there when you need them.

Robert Barry
Community FoodBank of New Jersey
Chief Financial Officer

Upon graduating from Pace University with a BBA, in 1984, Bob began his career with JH Cohn and Company (now Cohn Reznick). After several years as an auditor, Bob became the Controller at The Matheny School and Hospital.  In 1997, Bob became the CFO at Bonnie Brae and remained there until 2006 when he became the CFO at the Community FoodBank of NJ.  For the past 5 years, Bob has chaired the CFO network for Feeding America.  Bob also served for 6 years as an elected member of the Edison Township Board of Education.

About The Community FoodBank of New Jersey

The Community FoodBank of New Jersey, which was incorporated in 1982, began 40 years ago with founder Kathleen DiChiara distributing food out of the back of her station wagon.  It is now one of the largest food banks in the country, distributing more than 43 million pounds of food a year.  CFBNJ’s Hillside headquarters and southern branch in Egg Harbor Township employ some 200 people.  In addition to distributing food to more than 1,000 partner charities, CFBNJ offers a variety of programs including the Food Service Training Academy, which has graduated more than 800 students since 2000, preparing them for culinary careers.  More than 90% are employed within six months of graduation.

Michael Kawas
Chief Financial Officer
Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation

Michael is the EVP/CFO of MTF.  He has been with MTF for almost 27 years.

His current and past responsibilities include Administration, International Sales and Marketing, Process and Technical Operations, Quality Assurance and Regulatory, Contract Management and President of MTF’s Dermis Division.

Prior to joining MTF, Michael worked for Reliance Group Holdings with responsibilities in the area of mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.  He also spent four years in public accounting working for Arthur Young & Co. (now Ernst & Young) performing audits of healthcare organizations, investment banks and manufacturing companies.

Michael received his BBA from Pace University in 1981 and his MBA from Rutgers University in 2000. He is a CPA licensed in New York and New Jersey, is a CGMA and is a member of the Finance Committee of the American Association of Tissue Banks.

About Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation

MTF was founded in 1987 by a group of orthopedic surgeons dedicated to finding a way to provide a consistent, safe and efficacious supply of tissue of the highest quality for transplantation. Since its inception in 1987, MTF has worked with Organ Procurement Organizations nationwide to recover more than 100,000 tissue donors and distribute more than 6,000,000 grafts globally. MTF is dedicated to surgeons, patients, donors and donor families in the respectful stewardship of the selfless gift of donation.

MTF provides tissue to hospitals, surgeons and patients throughout the world. It distributes over 450,000 grafts annually with over 200,000 patients benefiting from these therapeutic tissue forms. Human tissue is used extensively in orthopedics for reconstruction of the spine, extremities and ligaments in sports medicine related injuries. It is also used for the reconstruction of hernia and complex abdominal wall procedures and is widely accepted as the standard of care for breast reconstruction following mastectomy.

MTF is the nation’s largest tissue bank and employs over 1,100 people worldwide with approximately half of these employees working in the Edison, NJ Corporate Headquarters.

Cheryl Marks Young
Easter Seals New Jersey
Chief Financial Officer

Since 2006, Cheryl Marks-Young has overseen all of the financial functions for Easter Seals New Jersey, ensuring its resources are properly allocated to achieve its long-term strategic goals. Prior to joining Easter Seals, Cheryl held financial leadership positions with Sesame Workshop and Viacom. She earned a BS in accounting from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, and has received a certificate in professional grant development and a certification in process improvement from Rutgers University, and a certificate in treasury management from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She currently serves as the Co-Chair for the CFO Committee of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addictions Agencies (NJAMHAA).

About Easter Seals New Jersey

The mission of Easter Seals New Jersey is to help individuals and families with disabilities or special needs to live, learn, work and play in their communities with equality, dignity and independence. A leading non-profit provider of comprehensive services for individuals with developmental disabilities including autism, physical disabilities, mental illness and other special needs, our services have been geared toward helping individuals remove obstacles along their path toward independence and full community-integration for 65 years.

Easter Seals is committed to creating solutions and providing programs that produce tangible results in the lives of over 7,000 individuals and families in New Jersey.